Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading 3.6% Higher – Here’s Why

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price rose 3.6% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $481.77 and last traded at $475.31. Approximately 113,407,772 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 15% from the average daily volume of 98,741,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $458.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Tesla in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $307.00 target price for the company. Barclays restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Tesla from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. President Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $373.00 to $529.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, November 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and nine have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $400.86.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.07. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 311.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 1.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $437.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $378.24.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Tesla had a return on equity of 6.61% and a net margin of 5.51%.The firm had revenue of $28.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,637 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.93, for a total transaction of $1,170,643.41. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,757 shares in the company, valued at $6,107,145.01. This represents a 16.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kimbal Musk sold 56,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.66, for a total value of $25,606,501.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,391,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,145,215.90. This represents a 3.92% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 19.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. bought a new stake in Tesla during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new stake in shares of Tesla during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Tesla in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Tesla in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

About Tesla

Tesla, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, leases, and sells electric vehicles, and energy generation and storage systems in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Automotive, and Energy Generation and Storage. The Automotive segment offers electric vehicles, as well as sells automotive regulatory credits; and non-warranty after-sales vehicle, used vehicles, body shop and parts, supercharging, retail merchandise, and vehicle insurance services.